Browns react heedlessly to Colt McCoy’s injury

— The league’s efforts to address concussion problems look hollow after what happened with Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy last Thursday.

Browns president Mike Holmgren insisted the team’s medical staff did not know McCoy absorbed a ferocious helmet-to-face mask hit from Steelers linebacker James Harrison. The impact was loud enough to resonate throughout western Pennsylvania, but somehow word never reached the trainers and doctors.

That they didn’t check McCoy for a concussion on the sideline seems preposterous, if not reckless. It also gives fresh fodder to those who suspect many league and team officials still don’t grasp the gravity of head injuries.

— Nice quote from Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown. “If I can go and a trainer tells me I can’t go, that trainer has a problem with me after the game,” Brown said.

Yes, the macho-driven culture still rules. Play at all costs, win at all costs.

— Lions running back Jahvid Best probably doesn’t like it, but he will miss the rest of the season because of multiple concussions. That means Best, from Salesian High-Richmond and Cal, will not play in his homecoming game Sunday against the Raiders.

That’s unfortunate, obviously, but maybe sitting out now will salvage Best’s career. And his brain.

— One place the league can stand up for safety – reduce Thursday games, or at least mandate that teams have a bye the week before. As I argued in this space Nov. 24 (with an assist from John Madden), the human body needs more than three days to recover from the punishment of an NFL game.

Instead, the league renewed its television deals Wednesday – with plans to expand the number of Thursday night games. So much for common sense.